Doctor Who time travels for Australia’s ABC

In a move that will help forestall pirating of its big ticket shows, Australian broadcaster ABC is to premiere the first episode of season seven of Doctor Who – Asylum of the Daleks – on its online service iview Sunday September 2 from 5.10am EST immediately after its UK launch on September 1.

ABC1 Controller Brendan Dahill said, “For Doctor Who fans, it is a fantastic opportunity to see new episodes within hours of them premiering in the UK – each episode will be available on iview on Sundays.”

“ABC’s iview is the most watched catch-up service in Australia with 48 per cent of online Australians aged 16+ having accessed iview,” noted Dahill. “The new iview app for iphones and iPod Touch, launched on June 26, has seen a phenomenal 434,000 downloads recorded to date – with 210,000 downloads recorded in its first week.”

Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks premieres on iview Sunday September 2 from 5.10am EST. Season seven starts on ABC1 Saturdays at 7.30pm from September 8, and is also repeated on ABC2 Tuesdays at 9.30pm from September 11.